The nudge on Cody Meyer’s (g’24) heart was unmistakable.
Toward the end of his January 2022 trip to France, God continued to carve a path toward ministry.
Meyer was awarded the Tabor 20 Scholarship, which is given to students attending MB churches. He now serves as full-time, associate pastor of youth ministry and discipleship at his home church, Ebenfeld Mennonite Brethren Church, outside of Hillsboro.
After returning from France, Meyer taught the junior high youth group at Ebenfeld. The previous two summers, he served as a counselor at Camp War Eagle in Rogers, Ark., going into his junior year. He and classmate Dalton McAlister (fs’23) served as co-youth leaders for high-school students at Ebenfeld for one year before he did it alone as a senior.
“With each experience, my calling into ministry became more evident,” Meyer said. “Doing that for a year with Dalton and then moving into an adaptive ministry leadership major helped me see that I was passionate about teaching the Bible to these students.”
Meyer said the experiences were invaluable, given the tools the Tabor 20 Scholarship provided and the trips he participated in.
“From your relationships with your peers to your professors, you have shared values of faith and that teaching is grounded in God’s truth,” Meyer said.
Meyer cherishes the opportunity to speak these lessons to his students, understanding he can help guide them with some of the questions he had when he was their age.
“How can I prompt that discussion and thought process of understanding what God calls them into?” Meyer said. “I want to challenge these students to think deeper and not become complacent in their relationship with God. I love creating that space of comfort and vulnerability so they can be open with one another.”